Audience
Educators, Students
Grade Levels
Grades 5-8, Grades 9-12, Higher Education, Informal Education
Subject
Physical Science, Space Science, Technology, Waves, Light, Robotic Explorers, Communication, Remote Sensing
Type
Videos
When scientists and engineers want to send commands to a spacecraft in deep space, they turn to the Deep Space Network, NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas used to communicate with spacecraft at the Moon and beyond. This video explains how operators at the Deep Space Network take commands, break them into digital bits, precisely aim these big antennas at the spacecraft, and send the commands to the spacecraft using radio waves.
Viewers also get a basic overview of radio waves and the electromagnetic spectrum.
How Do We Communicate With Faraway Spacecraft?
Duration: 2 minutes, 28 seconds